Four in 10 (40%) drivers say they are reliant on car travel for commuting, rising to 70% for those living in rural locations.

Eight in 10 drivers would struggle to adjust to life without a vehicle

The study, carried out by the RAC, reveals only three in 10 (29%) believe taking the bus to work is a viable alternative to driving, climbing to just half (50%) of drivers in town and city centres, where public transport provision is most likely to be at its best.

For those in the suburbs, the figure drops to 26% before reaching a low of 11% for those who live rurally.

Underscoring that the UK is a car-dependent nation, eight in 10 (81%) say they would find it very difficult to adjust their lifestyle to being without a vehicle – a figure that has remained remarkably constant since 1989, when the RAC first asked this question.

Drivers’ dependency on their cars increases with age, the data shows. While two-thirds (65%) of under-25s say they would struggle to adjust to life without a vehicle, among those aged between 25 and 44 this goes up to 77%. The proportion then rises to 84% among those between 45 and 64, before peaking at 86% in those aged over 65.

The study also explored some of the most common journey types and found nearly two-thirds (63%) of drivers always commute by car, while 57% always drive when shopping for groceries. Four in 10 (42%) always drive when taking their children to school, nursery or clubs while 40% always do so to get to or from an airport. A quarter (26%) always use the car when travelling to a mainline railway station.

In comparison, the proportion of drivers who walk, cycle or use public transport instead is tiny – just 8% of commuters do, while the proportion of those who do so when grocery shopping is just 3%.

More than half (53%) of drivers said they would use their vehicle less if public transport was more convenient, reliable and affordable – although this is down by six percentage points from the peak of 59% recorded in 2019.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “While the current Government is very focused on improving public transport across the board, we suspect the car will always be essential to many people’s lives.”